TKD Players please critique

Not sure if any TKD players are still around, but I figured **** it, everyone needs a little more slap happy kicking in their lives!

Me in my latest match in blue. Did pretty piss poor considering I was able to squeek out a win. Already see a million things I did wrong (like kick the bastard in the head... ****... it was open the whole match). Even some stuff I normally do quite well I looked horrible at (like back kick counters. What the fack was with the backstep before the counter. I don't even think I've done that before). I think I might just be a choker in competition.

Anyway, any comments/insights are welcome. I'll try to get a video of me sparring in the gym up for comparson in the next few weeks to see if I'm actually any better then this or am deluding myself.

There were opportunities in which you could have utilized that axe kick.

at min 2:07 of the video, you countered with a side-step roundhouse, which was good, but you kind of just stepped back, as he stood there open. You had another opportunity to score again.

Your jump-spinning back-kick became very repetitive and though a few landed well, it was used way to many times and landed at a low rate.

At 3:06 you had a good offensive back kick, you should have used this more often throughout the match since your opponent was so passive. TKD is an OFFENSE sport, since the hands are always down, judges won't care about how well you evaded, SCORE SCORE SCORE.

Even though you were the most active (this is probably what won you the fight), your opponent landed at a much higher percentage than you did. He had the lazy-man strategy, but it was a smart one, basically he let you do all the work of kicking the air in front of him, and he'd nail you with the right leg round house. (min. 1:32)(min 4:49)

Your clinch work (or when too close to be in kicking distance) is lacking. I saw no clean shots landed from being in close, wich as the shorter guy, you should have capitalized.

You won the match for being the most active IMO, but you looked beat at the end, considering that most tournaments are based on elimination, you were probably dead tired by the time you faced your next (possibly better) opponent.

I won first place at a local TKD tournament by keeping my hands up and letting the other guy kick my elbow.

I always keep my hands up, opponents generally score the same amount appoints as if I kept them down, having them up has made no difference in the outcome of any of my matches. Plus you get the added bonus that timjitsu mentioned above.

Other than that, yeah you could have gone to his head all day. I particularly noticed an instance when you threw 2 lead leg round kicks to the body. You could have easily thrown the second one to his head and probably continued to do so the entire match. Your back kick timing and distancing looked off. Next time you run into that problem trying stepping into it first, if the guy is backing up to avoid it the additional step you take will put him right back in range.

Thanks guys. Clinchwork... oh yes. I've just been starting to drill it a bit recently, but obviously I need to alot more and step back farther before I attack. Something I'll have to work on over the next few months.

And yeah.. on those back kicks I whiffed, I really could have scored easily if I stepped in like you said. I guess I'm just not really used to sparring guys who move back so much (which on the other hand I was doing the whole time, which puisses me off as well since I've been working on lateral movement for months)

I think also one of the biggest problems is I wasn't reading the match either. I really should have been stepping into my kicks because he wasn't moving anywhere but back.

To me, Red was looking for counters the whole match. Typical "lazy man"-type strategy that an earlier poster referenced. When I fight someone who's just looking for counters, I try throwing some quick lead leg kicks to see if they'll bite. Also, check-steps and feints sometimes work. If he bites, counter his counter. If he doesn't bite, I usually get frustrated and start throwing fast combos, doubles, triples, etc. I'll often land the second or third kick in a "flurry", but sometimes I get countered too.